Vincent was appointed and confirmed as President Raymond Praeger's Secretary of Homeland Security in 2014. He's since been a primary point of contact for the government's official, legal efforts to engage, apprehend and try active terrorists and war criminals on the run.

portrayed byStanley Tucci

Before the war: Prior to his departure from the Department of Evolved Affairs, Vincent defined himself by his career, in which he was successful, and not by his family, in which he was less successful. He followed the law (often to the fortuitously vague letter) unless ordered to do otherwise, bent the law more often than he broke it, and utilized his knowledge of law and other people's misunderstanding of it to his advantage. He was a standout among career policemen and federal agents: being thoroughly jaded did not lure him into complacence or corruption. His ambition is what eventually got the better of him — the longer he worked within the DoEA, the more he was exposed to the darker machinations of managing the Evolved problem, and the more pressure he was under to compromise his own integrity. He was also heavily exposed to ominous visions of a dark future during this time — too persistent to ignore, despite his extreme allergy to having his strings pulled.

In November of 2010, he cracked and went to the Times with evidence of off the books (and unconstitutional) detainment of evolved prisoners the government had deemed too dangerous to let wander free, among other transgressions.

He was let go from the Department. An order was put out for his immediate arrest. He ran to the Ferry.

Being labeled a fugitive from justice as hard on him. He fell in (reluctant) step with Ferrymen operatives he’d previously worked with, and continued to cooperate with them to his own ends, making minimal use of their resources and personnel as needed to continue what he’d started. He was not widely loved or trusted within their organization. The feeling was mutual, but between Benji nudging him in the right direction and the government going full retard, Vincent made the leap to open rebellion.

The political climate rapidly went from bad to worse on into 2011, until Pollepel fell. Vincent was caught up in an ambush that saw his daughter take a bullet to the skull, and used his ability to make the 400 mile trek to Montreal with her in his arms.

He still has regular nightmares about it.

During: As the government ramped up its aggression, so did he, at the cost of certain cornerstones of ethical conduct he’d previously prided himself on maintaining.

War is war.

His name, prior station, informants, contacts and operational experience made him a natural go-to for collecting intelligence and organizing surgical strikes on priority targets within Mitchell’s government and war machine. He liasoned with (and often deferred to) friendly military tacticians and political powers with regard to organizing assaults and where to keep the pressure on, particularly early on. Learning on the job.

He did this for two years, sometimes caught up in the thick of the fighting himself, and has blood on his hands to show for it. He was very likely covertly involved in some unusual murders — including the unsuccessful attempt made on Mitchell — wherein only pieces and parts were found, if anything was found at all. If he had a had a hand in disarming launched nukes, it was likely as a coordinator making calls from the ground.

He never condoned torture, suicide bombing, or taking action likely to result in civilian casualties on either side. He fought for country more than for any uniquely evolved cause — he’s always been a patriot first and foremost.

He mostly kept to the east coast, but followed flashpoints and moved on the fly if he could do more or was needed elsewhere, maintaining close contact with the Praegers. During this time he also maintained regular contact with his daughter Tasha, and coordinated with surviving allies from the Ferry, including people he hadn’t previously gotten on well with (Lynette, Ryans, etc). He’d have kept as close to friendly government contacts as he could without putting them in danger — I’m not sure what Jane, Lancaster et al got up to, but they’re all important to him and he’d have as much of a stake in protecting them as he would working with them, which might have led to lapses in contact.

After: After the war ended, he continued to provide intelligence throughout the war crimes tribunal and the trials that followed, both to the tribunal itself and to Praeger. Given givens, he was involved with cutting deals with small fry allies of the Company and the Institute under the table to have them testify against others.

This role evolved into a more formal assignment under Praeger’s administration after Raymond was sworn into office. Initially, in the months immediately following the end of the war, Vincent was brought back into the government fold as an agent of the Secret Service, officially as the leader of Praeger’s security detail, and unofficially as an all go-between, henchman and solver of problems.

He was appointed (and confirmed) as the Secretary of Homeland Security for Praeger’s administration in late 2014, and continued to play a role in the investigation and detainment of war criminals who collaborated with and served under Mitchell and his allies. He has worked closely with (and continues to work with) the Office of Special Investigations to that end.

In addition to working with other governmental departments and offices, Lazzaro has worked fairly extensively with paramility and special interest groups like Wolfhound with the goal of having wanted war criminals and terrorists stopped, tried in a court of law and sentenced, rather than having them black ops murdered, lynched in the streets, or otherwise made a spectacle of. His personal connections with members of Wolfhound, former Ferrymen and other like-minded associates combined with the somewhat faster-and-looser nature of his authority in the post-civil-war United States have led to him taking a very hands-on approach.

He should have a reputation with these groups for looking the other way and being tolerant of some pretty shady shit, but with very clear (and potentially painful in the ass) boundaries where due process is concerned. He will also be very accessible to former allies and friends — willing to meet, to talk, and to wheel and deal.

His primary goal has been to re-establish law and order from sea to shining sea, and for people to have faith in their government, and it’s hard to have either when people are taking justice into their own hands willy nilly.

Present day, he has a home in Kansas City he doesn't spend much time in, and an apartment in New York, because that's where the RP (and I assume a lot of the terrorist round-up activity) is based out of. He travels often and confronts issues personally, proactively, and potentially dangerously.

Lawful Good/Neutral

Allergic to bullshit

Doesn’t like surprises

Resistant to the idea of predetermined fate

Clotheshorse

Intensely private

Passive: Vincent's ability is sublimating into a vapor form that he's had enough practice with to be mostly efficient in its application, though accidents are bound to happen and unexpected stimuli like sudden loud noises or unanticipated impact can disturb his equilibrium and cause reflexive, instantaneous sublimation.

While still compactly condensed, visually he looks exactly the same as he would if he were solid, save that any swift movement or physical disturbance through his person (the swing of a hand, the passage of a bullet) would break up the illusion and drag a dark, smoky trail out in its wake same as it would through a fog or any other cloud of smoke or vapor. Once he's fallen completely away from that kind of odd faux-solid state, he is basically a person-sized cloud of sooty grey-black vapor that can condense, expand, move and reassemble itself back into human form at will. The less dense he is, the harder he is to visually detect in a room and the harder it is for him to communicate. While hollow speech seems to be an option in a mostly human-shaped assembly, if he's just a span of misty air he's not going to be whispering in anyone's ear. He cannot form himself into complex shapes beyond his default human one and a ghostly grey golem version of his self, but tends to flow fluidly in whatever direction he's aiming to go in, ophidian and elemental until he reconstitutes. He can move quickly in this state when he's gathered himself up, fleeting against existing air currents by force of will, but momentum is difficult to maintain and it's hard to dart more than a few feet at a time.

As a vapor he has no smell and feels faintly chilly but not damp, more like smoke than water. He does not have control over or interact with any form of vapor other than himself and does not require oxygen to breath. I imagine his perception would be similar to Rickham's when he lacks human sensory organs, relying upon the translation of vibrations to interpret his environment. Extreme temperatures hamper his ability to put himself back together again, as do high winds and physical interruptions that occur while he's condensing. Like a plane scratching a landing in poor weather, he'd have to try to find better conditions and start over again even though the process is almost instantaneous to the human eye.

Aggressive: Theoretically Vincent's ability is fairly harmless, but with a catch: he can transport other people and objects, but is aware that he runs a risk of "losing" parts of himself or the transportee in the process. Transportation of this nature requires physical contact. Size limit would be as much as he could carry, I guess - maybe one human being.

Post-war, it's an open secret at this point that Vincent can essentially teleport people and objects into pieces by taking some (but not all) of their person with him. As the gas form he takes on is somewhat based on sublimation (in this case of an unknown black compound with a naturally gaseous state at most earthly temperatures) the side effect of sudden unnatural division of a whole object is a veneer of rapidly sublimating nasty black ice that sizzles and hisses and is generally pretty unpleasant across the exposed cross section. Also, frequently, death.

In less violent application, this is a way for him to transport a single individual rapidly out of direct fire in event of emergency, etc. If exhausted or otherwise fucked up while attempting a large transport he would probably risk black ice errors in himself. A whole individual transported in this way senses the world as he does but is not able to steer.

Even when not actively cutting people into pieces, after several years of using this ability to kill and incapacitate enemy combatants, Vincent's gotten very efficient at using it to his advantage in close combat.

Appendices

Trivia and Notes

Known to many:

Secretary of Homeland Security

Well-known to have fought in the civil war before that (elaborated upon in background)

Vocal advocate of mandatory registration

Previously served under Praeger as the head of the Office of Intelligence and Analysis within the Department of Evolved Affairs, was a detective with the NYPD prior to that

Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor in October 2010 for his role in saving Praeger from an assassination attempt

Was terminated from his position with the DoEA and a warrant was put out for his arrest after he exposed the unconstitutional detainment of Evolved by the government via the Times on November 7, 2010

Father of Tasha Renard-Lazzaro

Known to some:

Open secret/rumor that he splinched people apart with his ability during the war

Allied with the Ferry without ever fully committing to their ranks

Often willing to wheel and deal in exchange for useful information

Known to few:

Seriously considered trying to marry Adrienne Lancaster during the war, but would have had to change his last name. Also she died.

Direct involvement in the assassination attempt on Mitchell

Chronic pain from an ability malfunction he suffered at the hand of an SLC expressive negator in early 2008 — incurred bone and nerve damage head to toe. Still heavily scarred, rarely seen without long sleeves. Dependent on prescription painkillers.

Tasha is an anchor in Vincent’s life, and a constant reminder of mistakes he’s made in managing his personal affairs. Their relationship is unorthodox — tough love wrought out of their separation, philosophical differences, and the impact the war had on both of them. She’s still childish, sometimes — a ‘free spirit.’ But he’s grown to trust her and the decisions she makes, even if it did take her nearly dying in his arms for him to lower his defenses enough to fully accept her as she is.

Colette Demsky is a potentially dangerous liability — violent, shortsighted and in a three way relationship with Tasha that Vincent has forced himself to accept without fully understanding. She shows behavioral indicators of having been physically abused in the past, and of post traumatic stress. He wants to be supportive, but harbors private concerns that she’ll snap and turn that energy on his daughter. They did some fighting together during the war, and he knows she has good intentions. He just also knows what she’s capable of.

Tamara is a sibyl, eminently coherent and impossible to understand at the same time. He doesn’t quite ‘get’ it, but he makes a concentrated effort to try. Or at least not to treat her too differently, despite his distrust of all things omniscient. This typically results him in attempting to carry normal conversation without getting caught in the weeds of anything strange that comes out in the process. She’s the other corner of Tasha’s hippy love triangle. He worries about all of them.

Raymond Praeger is effectual and polite and discreetly, discerningly dangerous to opposition who doesn’t know what it’s dealing with. They came out of the fire on the same side when the country descended into civil war, and worked together to strategize against Mitchell’s regime. Vincent pushed for the operation that freed his wife from Institute custody in ‘11 and has since protected both Praegers with his life. He's ride or die, all in on this administration getting it right for the first time in a long time.

Civil war is a dirty business, and civil war is where Vincent first began to work with Hana. With his law enforcement career on hold and America on the ropes, he got into some shady shit with the resistance. Their cooperation has carried over into the aftermath — he trusts her more than is prudent, considering the potential for conflict of interest, and relies too heavily on her for help. They have a similar approach to problem solving, and share a common work ethic. He likes her. To date, professionalism has protected him from trying to make a pass. His struggle is very real.

Luther is a big angry bleeding heart on legs that punches things with his fire hands when he gets sad. His records from the war are interesting. His records from before the war are also interesting. He works for Richard ‘Ray,’ and seems to have had his loyalty sufficiently shaken by recent events that he might report back on any further untoward happenings. Especially anything that concerns Odessa Knutson. Depending upon how resistant he is to outside influence, he could make for a formidable asset. He also apparently has a thing with Jane that explains a lot about Vincent never having had a chance.

Former NYPD, unsubtle favoritism, anyone who cries about it can kiss my ass.

Smiled once, I saw it.

Really likes plants.

Vincent first trusted Benji on gut instinct after feeling her out in captivity on Pollepel. It eventually came to light that she was a) from the future and b) the one responsible for dumping dream manipulation on him and everyone else while trying to avert a dark future. In her defense, it sort of worked. She’s since blended into his life as a kind of strange, adopted alien daughter — an arrangement that’s too confusing for him to even try to unpack. She’s genuine and unpredictable and terribly dangerous and he should probably try to put her in a prison sometime but they won the war and he doesn’t especially want to.

The first time Vincent spoke to Carol was after he helped to pull her from the mechanical casket the Institute had locked her into. He took it upon himself to oversee her safety and care for several months after that, and they spent many a night freeloading in fancy hotel rooms together until the war came and he could formally reunite her with Raymond. She has a better bead on him than most accordingly — better, even, than he’d prefer - but that’s the cost of looking out for each other in dire straights. Vincent considers her a friend — one of very few aware of how the past several years have worn on him.

Volatile, impulsive, mentally unstable and intimately familiar with the shape of things to come — Eve, like so many of Vincent’s wartime associations, is highly dangerous. She’s unpredictable by nature, drifting in and out of his life as she sees fit, often with little regard for personal safety or any pretense of privacy he might maintain. Vincent worries about her. He worries about everyone, but he especially worries about Eve. Most of the others have someone dedicated to look out for them. She wants to hunt down Adam Monroe, despite Monroe saving her life some years ago — he’s convinced himself to have faith in her ability to maintain perspective through whatever temptation or inner conflict that entails. God help them both.

Huruma knows Vincent has feelings, and that’s terrible. No amount of pretense or constitution will keep her out of his head. Relying on her discretion to keep what she senses in there to herself is a risk he’s had to take; she seems to be working to make something more of herself, these days. The fact that she’s older than most of the Ferry remnant he contends with day to day makes her more relatable — mottled as her history might be, it’s good to know there’s someone else with an iota of impulse control looking out for them. Theoretically. If the impulse control piece fails, at least she’ll still have sheer intimidation on her side.

Lynette is a lot to contend with on a good day — former Ferry leadership and an active combatant in the civil war. Vincent worked around her in the time he spent sequestered on Pollepel, but didn’t really get the full Lynette experience until they were in the mud together being shot at. She’s hilarious and irreverent and he trusts her to do what she thinks is right, provided that she’s calm, sober and can actually see where she’s going from atop that very, very high horse she’s capable of climbing on. She seems to be in rough shape, psychologically. He keeps an eye on her, as well as he can under the circumstances.